Equipment
McIlroy still rolling with his Cameron putter
Last week at the BMW Championship at Wentworth, Rory McIlroy switched from his Nike Method prototype putter back to his old Scotty Cameron gamer.
Based on the photos we shot yesterday, it appears that the current No. 2-ranked golfer in the world will continue to roll with the Scotty Cameron putter that took him to the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings at this week at the Memorial Tournament.
Click here to see more inside the ropes photos from the Memorial.
The curious thing is that McIlroy is only putting slightly worse than he did in 2012. He’s currently ranked 100th in the PGA Tour’s Strokes-Gained Putting stat, just 18 slots worse than his ranking in 2012, a year in which he won three PGA Tour events and his second major championship, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.
McIlroy’s Nike putter and Scotty Cameron putter are nearly identical, with the exception of Nike’s polymetal grooves in the putter face that Nike says gets the ball rolling sooner off the putter face with less skid.
Like McIlroy, fellow Nike Golf Staff Member Tiger Woods teetered back and forth between his Scotty Cameron putter and a Nike putter until the 2010 British Open. Since that time, he has used a Nike Method 001 almost exclusively, and is currently ranked 1st in the Strokes-Gained Putting stat.
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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neil
Jun 9, 2013 at 6:58 am
interesting about the ball
guess Rorys played the Pro V/x since school.
big change.I wonder if the change to his own management company will Buy out his Nike Contract?
t120
Jun 8, 2013 at 12:32 am
that ball is the culprit, plain and simple. No one on here can tell me that they couldn’t tell the difference between the V1x and the 20xi – blindfolded. He bought in to the whole bag too soon. It’s not the gear, NIKE makes top quality stuff (minus the putters, so far), but the ball is SO far behind the V1/(x) that it’s just not fair to compare.
Scott
Jun 3, 2013 at 7:12 pm
I bet if he went back to Titleist for the Open he’d win it….
Swooshmeup
May 30, 2013 at 11:03 pm
Easy CJB…. 20xi is much better.
cjb
May 30, 2013 at 5:27 pm
It’s not the putter, it’s the ball he should switch.
Ry
May 30, 2013 at 4:10 pm
…rolling right to a 78 opening at Memorial. Didnt he miss the cut at the BMW as well???
Don
May 29, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Yep, blacked out ping.
jb
May 29, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Tiger did the same thing. It took him awhile and a lot of back and forth between the new Nike and old Scotty before he finally did it full time. Heck he still uses a non-filled Scotty grip on his Nike.
Leslie
May 29, 2013 at 8:45 pm
He uses a ping putter grip, not a Scotty. Look it up
Jesse
May 29, 2013 at 9:22 pm
+1 ^^^
Tool Status
May 29, 2013 at 10:19 pm
+2
David Klein
May 29, 2013 at 11:48 pm
+3
Bert B
May 29, 2013 at 3:47 pm
I think you can have any good putters’ specs rigged so they are mechanically the same: The one you put best with will be the one you believe in.